An example disclosed output hopper includes a cavity to receive media units from an output of a media processing device, the cavity to cause the media units to form a stack in a first direction; a first door pivotably movable between a closed position and an open position, the first door to retain the media units in the cavity when in the closed position; a second door movable between the closed position and the open position, the second door to retain the media units in the cavity when in the closed position; wherein the first door is configured to pivot on a first axis substantially parallel to the first direction; and the second door is configured to pivot on a second axis substantially parallel to the first direction.
Legal claims defining the scope of protection, as filed with the USPTO.
1. An output hopper comprising: a cavity to receive media units from an output of a media processing device, the cavity to cause the media units to form a stack in a first direction; a first door pivotably movable between a closed position and an open position, the first door to retain the media units in the cavity when in the closed position; a second door movable between the closed position and the open position, the second door to retain the media units in the cavity when in the closed position; and a gap between the first door and the second door, wherein: the media units are configured to be reached through the gap with both of the first and second doors full closed; removal of the media units through the gap with both of the first and second doors fully closed causes both of the first and second doors to be moved from the closed positions of the first and second doors to the open positions of the first and second doors via contact with the media units; the first door is configured to pivot on a first axis substantially parallel to the first direction; the second door is configured to pivot on a second axis substantially parallel to the first direction; the first door is biased toward the closed position; and the second door is biased toward the closed position.
2. The output hopper of claim 1 , wherein the first direction extends away from a bottom surface of the output hopper.
3. The output hopper of claim 2 , wherein the cavity is configured such that the media units rest on the bottom surface.
4. The output hopper of claim 2 , wherein the bottom surface of the output hopper includes a recess configured to provide space between the bottom surface and a surface of a bottommost one of the media units.
5. The output hopper of claim 1 , wherein: the first door is pivotably mounted on a first side of the output hopper; and the second door is pivotably mounted on a second side of the output hopper, the first side opposing the second side.
6. The output hopper of claim 1 , wherein: the first door is to pivot from the closed position to the open position in a first rotational direction; and the second door is to pivot from the closed position to the open position in a second rotational direction different than the first rotational direction.
7. The output hopper of claim 1 , wherein, when the first and second doors are in the closed position, a first retaining portion of the first door is spaced apart from a second retaining portion of the second door by a first distance.
8. The output hopper of claim 7 , wherein, when the first and second doors are in the open position, the first retaining portion is spaced apart from the second retaining portion by a second distance greater than the first distance.
9. The output hopper of claim 7 , wherein the first retaining portion is configured to engage a minor edge of the media units when in the closed position.
10. The output hopper of claim 1 , wherein: the first door includes a first cutout at a first top edge of the first door; the second door includes a second cutout at a second top edge of the second door; and the first and second cutouts allow the media units to spill over the first and second top edges when a capacity of the cavity is exceeded.
11. The output hopper of claim 1 , wherein the first axis intersects a media unit plane defined by a surface of one of the media units.
12. A media processing device comprising: a media unit transport assembly configured to guide a processed media unit to a media unit output; and an output hopper to receive the processed media unit, the output hopper comprising: a first door pivotably mounted to a housing of the media processing device, the first door including a first retaining portion to retain the processed media unit in the output hopper via contact between the first retaining portion and the processed media unit; a second door pivotably mounted to the housing of the media processing device, the second door including a second retaining portion to retain the processed media unit in the output hopper via contact between the second retaining portion and the processed media unit, wherein: the first retaining portion is spaced apart from the second retaining portion by a first gap of a first distance when the first and second doors are in a closed position, the first gap to provide access to the processed media unit; and the first retaining portion is spaced apart from the second retaining portion by a second gap of a second distance greater than the first distance when the first door is in an open position.
13. The media processing device of claim 12 , wherein: the first distance is less than a length of an edge of the processed media unit; and the second distance is greater than the length of the edge of the processed media unit.
14. The media processing device of claim 12 , further comprising a printhead to generate indicia on a media unit.
15. The media processing device of claim 12 , wherein the first door is moved to the open position in a first rotational direction about a first axis.
16. The media processing device of claim 15 , wherein the first axis is substantially parallel to a direction in which media units are stacked in a cavity of the output hopper.
17. The media processing device of claim 15 , wherein the first axis intersects a media unit plane defined by a surface of the processed media unit.
18. The media processing device of claim 12 , wherein the output hopper is configured to allow processed media units to exit the output hopper when a capacity of the output hopper is exceeded.
19. The media processing device of claim 12 , wherein the first gap provides access to the processed media unit by enabling a user to reach into a cavity in which the processed media unit is located with the first and second doors in the closed position.
Cooperative Patent Classification codes for this invention. Click any code to explore related patents in that topic.
November 8, 2017
April 28, 2020
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